Aubrey Plaza

Birthdate

Birthplace

Nationality

Companions

Photos

Within two years of graduating from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, 22 year-old Aubrey Plaza landed a role on a highly-touted network TV sitcom and was cast in two major motion pictures. A native of Delaware, Plaza studied improvisation in New York City and honed her comic skills as a member of several sketch comedy troupes. Her appearance as an angry, eye-rolling teenager with substance abuse and mother issues in the Internet-exclusive comedy series "The Jeannie Tate Show" led to her casting as the deadpan college intern April Ludgate on NBC's "Parks and Recreation" (2009-15), where she perfected the dull-eyed stare and ironic enthusiasm that would become her comic stock-in-trade. Supporting roles in Judd Apatow's "Funny People" (2009) opposite Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen and in Edgar Wright's "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" (2010) with Michael Cera raised the actress's Hollywood stock, but it was through her continued participation in original online comic content that Plaza's fan base blossomed and allowed her to become a breakout talent to watch. After "Parks and Recreation" concluded its run, Plaza moved into leading roles with the zombie-themed romantic comedy "Life After Beth" (2014), manic farce "Mike and Date Need Wedding Dates" (2016) and "The Little Hours" (2017), based on a story from the 14th-century collection The Decameron, while expanding her range with supporting roles in films ranging from Hal Hartley's indie drama "Ned Rifle" (2014) to Robert De Niro's "Dirty Grandpa" (2016). Her return to television came as co-star on the cable superhero series "Legion" (FX 2017- ).Aubrey Plaza was born in Wilmington, DE on June 26, 1984. Puerto Rican on the side of her father, a financial planner, and Irish on the side of her mother, an attorney, Plaza was named for a song by the band Bread. She began performing as early as age eight at the Wilmington Drama League but developed her skill for instigation at the private, all-girl Ursuline Academy, staging a day of fake mustache-wearing and once following her principal home by concealing her presence inside a cardboard box. In 2002, Plaza enrolled in the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University and was studying improv with the Manhattan-based Upright Citizens Brigade by age 18. Prior to her 2006 graduation from NYU, Plaza worked as an NBC page at 30 Rockefeller Plaza and as a set design intern during the 2004-05 season of "Saturday Night Live" (NBC, 1975- ). She also appeared in Susan Buice and Arin Crumley's "Four Eyed Monsters" (2005), an ultra-low budget independent film marketed successfully via the Internet.Despite a lack of professional experience, Plaza began racking up an impressive list of credits, both on television and via web-based short form comedy series. She appeared in a walk-on as an NBC page in a first season episode of the sitcom "30 Rock" (NBC, 2006-13), wearing the very uniform in which she had once conducted studio tours. She played a chemically dependent teenager in episodes of the web series "The Jeannie Tate Show," a mock talk show set inside the rolling minivan of Liz Cackowski's New Jersey soccer mom. On the ESPN web series "Mayne Street" (2008- ), Plaza played against type as bespectacled network executive Robin Gibney, the dryly dismissive superior of series lead Kenny Mayne.In 2009, Plaza enjoyed a breakout year when she joined the ensemble cast of the NBC sitcom "Parks and Recreation" (2009-15). Although she had never met star Amy Poehler at Upright Citizens Brigade or during her internship at "SNL," Plaza's apathetic college intern April Ludgate was presented in contrast to Poehler's manic Deputy Parks Director Leslie Knope, making them two sides of the same comic coin. In the second season, April was given an ongoing romantic subplot and Plaza's chemistry with costar Chris Pratt helped establish the pair as one of television's most endearing couples in the vein of Jim and Pam of "The Office" (NBC, 2005-2013).For Dan Eckman